Split

Skinner pulled his car up to the huge wrought-iron gate. He had received an anonymous tip that Alex Krycek would be targeting two different computer experts. Krycek needed to decode the tape he stole and fast. Skinner had already sent Mulder and Scully to take into protective custody the most likely target. He was here just in case. Just in case Krycek decided 'Madonna' was the computer expert he wanted to grab after all.

It took some digging but after a relatively short time he got her phone number and address. He left a message that he was on the way over and why, but the person on the other end of the line was amazingly non-committal considering the content of the message. He shrugged it off. He would take care of any problems when he got there. The priority was to get there as soon as possible.

He leaned out the car window and pressed the call button at the entrance. "I'm Assistant Director Skinner from the FBI. I should be expected."

There was a pause, long enough that he began to wonder if anyone was even home, when a woman's voice answered, "Come on in." The huge gate swung open and he got his first unobstructed view of the mansion. The gate didn't close behind him as he drove up the wide sweeping driveway and parked in front of the huge door with columns on either side of it.

He quickly went up the steps and knocked on the door.

The door was immediately opened by what he on first sight took to be a very young girl. Wide, brown eyes in an innocent face stared up at him, framed by a riot of golden curls that fell past her shoulders.

She smiled brightly. "Hi."

He pulled out his ID and held it up. "I'm Agent Skinner. I'm expected."

She didn't even glance at the ID. She frowned prettily. "I'm not allowed to let anyone in when I'm alone." She seemed upset that she might hurt his feelings.

"You're alone?" He was confused. "I'm here to see someone named Madonna. She should be here." He looked past her to see if there were any adults within view that he could call on for help.

"That's me." She was instantly happy again that she could help him. "I'm Madonna."

His attention went back to her, re-evaluating. She wore an oversized set of pink and white pajamas with lace and ribbons and bows. Her barefeet peeked out from beneath the wide legs of the pajamas. He looked closely and could see the faint suggestion of curves under the huge pajamas. His eyes darted to her face. Her open, innocent expression had thrown him off but when he looked closely he could see she was older than he had first thought, maybe early to late twenties.

"*You're* Madonna?" He was at a loss.

"Yeah, but my friends call me Donni." She hurried on as if afraid she had hurt his feelings. "You can call me Donni."

"Madonna... Donni," he started. "I need you to come with me. You may be in danger. You need to go into protective custody until we've ascertained that the danger has passed."

She frowned and the brilliant joy in her eyes dimmed. "I can't leave. I'm not allowed to go anywhere with strangers. Not unless Trent says I can."

"Trent?"

"My brother, Trent," she explained as if everyone knew who Trent was.

"I'm sorry, miss, but for you're own safety I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."

Whether or not Skinner would have won the argument became a moot point. Alex Krycek sneaked up behind him and hit him hard with the butt of his gun. Skinner crumpled to the ground.

Donni caught her breath in a gasp and her hands went to her mouth, She stared at him wide-eyed.

Krycek looked down at Skinner and briefly wondered if he even realized how neatly he'd been set-up before turning his attention to the girl.

"Come on." He leaned forward and took her arm in a hard grip, the gun not exactly pointed at her but not exactly pointed away either. He tugged her forward.

"But Mr. Skinner is hurt." She drew back from him, confused.

"I know," he said impatiently. "I'm the one who just hurt him."

"But we can't leave him." She became suddenly suspicious. "I don't think I'm supposed to go anywhere with you." Blithely ignoring the gun in his hand and with the skill of long practice, she wriggled her arm free of his grip and crossed her arms over her chest, staring suspiciously. "You're not a nice man."

Krycek stared at her, baffled. It was as if she didn't see the gun in his hand or else didn't understand the threat. Not that he could use it on her. He needed her. He wouldn't be going to all this trouble if he didn't.

He didn't have time for this. He suddenly remembered what she had said to Skinner as he was sneaking up on them.

"Trent said you could come with me."

"He did?" She was doubtful.

"He did." He nodded his head firmly.

"But Trent wouldn't want us to leave Mr. Skinner. He's hurt." She sounded confused.

"We won't," he soothed. "We'll take him with us."

Her face cleared. "Okay." She was happy again. She was always willing to believe the best of people.

He settled her in the passenger seat of Skinner's car then dumped Skinner in the trunk. Krycek got in behind the wheel.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll know when we get there." He ignored her and drove.

Skinner became aware of a throbbing in his head then gradually of a soothing coolness pressed against the pain. He painfully blinked his eyes open to find himself staring into a concerned pair of brown eyes.

"Mr. Skinner, I don't think we should have gone with that man. I don't think Trent sent him after all."

Skinner found himself sitting propped up against a wall with his hands tightly handcuffed around a pipe at his back. Donni stared at him with concern and pressed a cool cloth to the back of his head.

"What man?" He tried to gather his thoughts past the pain.

"The man that hit you. He said Trent sent him but I don't think he did."

Before she could say anymore, Krycek walked in. Skinner jerked at the cuffs, trying to yank himself free. If he could get even one hand on the bastard...

Krycek barely spared him a glance. He grabbed the girl by the arm and jerked her up.

"Come on." He roughly pulled her out of the room. She shot a confused and questioning glance at Skinner.

Fury consumed Skinner, but he could only watch helplessly as Krycek dragged her from the room.

Krycek quickly dragged her down a hall and into a room with a laptop computer set up on a desk. He roughly pushed her down into the chair then pulled the DAT tape out of his pocket.

"Now, listen closely." He loomed over her, his face coldly threatening. "You do as I say and you'll get out of this alive. If you don't help me, I have no use for you or Skinner."

He paused as pure terror contorted her face and she began to shake. He became alarmed. He wanted her frightened enough to do what he said, not mindless with terror. He hadn't even explained what he wanted her to do yet.

Tears began to spill down her cheeks and her shaking increased. Even more worried, he shoved the tape away in a pocket and gripped her arms. Her eyes were dilated with fear as she stared up at him.

Donni spoke in a low, shaky whisper. "You're the bad man. You want to hurt me. Trent told me about you."

Krycek was at a loss. Her terror was making him uncomfortable. He was a ruthless murderer. He could and did hurt anyone that got in his way, but her childlike terror was bothering him. Bothering him more than it should.

"Calm down." Somehow he found himself soothing her. Donni continued to shake, staring at him in terror, tears spilling down her face.

"Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." His words came out stilted, awkward.

The terror abated slightly and he saw hope peek out of her eyes. "You're not going to hurt me?"

Relief rushed over him. She had stopped crying. "No. I'm not going to hurt you. I just need your help."

Just as quickly as it had arrived, the terror was gone. She smiled and her face lit up. Krycek caught his breath. Pure innocent trust shone from her eyes. "You need my help?" She beamed at him.

Krycek shook himself out of an uncharacteristic revere and stepped back, trying to ignore her stunning smile and drag himself back to the business at hand. He pulled the tape out again.

"I need this tape decoded," he said quietly, treading carefully. He didn't want her to slip back into terror. He didn't want to admit it even to himself, but he didn't want to see the brightness of her smile dim, either.

"Okay." Donni plucked the tape from his hand, booted the computer and busily started typing.

'WARNING: CLASSIFIED' flashed across the screen and she stopped.

"I'm sorry." Donni looked ineffably sad. "Trent says I'm not allowed to break government codes anymore." She looked at him solemnly. "I got in trouble the last time."

Krycek knew he couldn't threaten her. He thought quickly. He crouched down beside her and put on his saddest face. "But I really need the information."

Donni looked doubtful.

"It's really important. Please." His voice was soft, coaxing. "I promise you won't get into trouble."

She was torn. She really wanted to help, but Trent said it was wrong.

Krycek gently took her hand and soulfully looked up into her eyes. "I'm going to be in a lot of trouble if I can't decode these files." He kept his voice low and pleading even though he wanted to demand and threaten. He was too smart to make the same mistake twice.

"Well -- okay. If you're going to get into trouble." She spontaneously threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

Krycek jerked with surprise when he was suddenly buried in a mass of fragrant curls. His arms went around her and numbly hugged her back.

Donni pulled back just as quickly. He missed the warm feeling her nearness had caused inside his chest but ruthlessly stomped out the feeling. He was just using her to get what he needed. This wasn't personal.

"I'm going to need some things." She was blithely unaware of the turmoil she had caused in her captor. "We need to go shopping."

"I'll get whatever you need," he said quickly. "You need to stay here with Skinner."

"But... " she frowned.

"You need to help Skinner, remember?" Krycek coaxed.

"Okay," she said reluctantly. "I'll have to make you a list." Donni grabbed paper and pen and started writing, frowning with concentration. After a moment, she finished and handed it to him, shooting him a bright smile.

He was still crouched next to her. Her smile hit him right between the eyes. Stunned, he tried to shake it off. He wasn't entirely successful.

He was dazedly looking over the list when a thought occurred to him. "What about you?" he asked gently. "Do you need anything?"

She looked thoughtful a minute then shook her head, curls tumbling into her face. She pushed the thick mass back with a practiced motion. "No, I don't need anything."

He looked her over. She was wearing a rumpled and dirty set of pajamas and was barefoot, but she didn't need anything. He decided the least he could do was get her a pair of shoes. Maybe he'd surprise her.

"Okay," he said. "Come on." Krycek gently took her arm and pulled her to her feet.

Donni looked up at him with such trust that he felt a tug inside his chest. No one had ever looked at him like that before. He shoved the feeling away. He was just using her. This wasn't personal.

It wasn't.

"Where are we going?"

"I need you to stay with Skinner while I'm gone. Will you do that for me?"

He was hit with another brilliant smile.

"Sure. I'll stay with him."

Krycek started to gently guide her out the door when she pulled back, frowning at him.

"What's your name?"

"Alex." He was caught off guard. "My name's Alex."

"Nice to meet you, Alex." She smiled happily. "Now you're not a stranger anymore."

"No," he said, bemused. "I guess I'm not."

"You can call me Donni. All my friends call me Donni."

"Okay, Donni." Still stunned, he walked her back to the cell and opened the door.

"Bye, Alex." She smiled cheerfully and the room seemed to brighten.

"Bye," he answered numbly then closed and locked the door.

Hours later, Krycek was still a little stunned as he wandered around an all-night shopping center. He had bought everything on the list and could go back now. On impulse he went into a clothing store. Wandering through the aisles, he realized he didn't even know her size. All he remembered was that she was short and small.

He pulled out a pink summer dress. She would look good in that color. He checked the size but it was meaningless. He eyed the dress. It looked like it would fit. He shrugged, yanked it off the hanger and shoved it under an arm. On his way to the register he grabbed a pair of sandals.

Krycek paid for them, grabbed the bag and stomped out of the store in a foul mood. He had no idea why he was concerning himself about what size dress she wore. He told himself that the happier she was, the sooner she would get the tape decoded for him, but he wasn't sure he believed it.

Krycek arrived back at the house, dropped his purchases off in the computer room and soon found himself nervously standing in front of the cell door. Irritated, he shook it off. She was his prisoner, not his guest. He unlocked the door and thrust it open.

Only to stop, mouth agape. She'd been busy. The mattress from the lone cot was now under Skinner with the blanket drawn up over him. The metal frame of the cot was shoved aside.

Donni bounced up when he entered and smiled a welcome. "Hi, Alex!"

Krycek felt her smile tug at him and spoke gruffly to compensate. "I went shopping. Come on." He guided her from the room, locked the door and escorted her down the hall to the computer room.

Donni immediately started sorting through the electronics bags, making approving noises as she found what she wanted.

Krycek held the clothing store bag behind his back, feeling uncomfortable and silly. Just give it to her, he thought. Don't make a big deal out of it.

"Donni."

She looked up and he thrust the bag at her. She took it, looking confused.

"For you," he said gruffly.

Her face lit up. Krycek felt a familiar tug but was getting used to the feeling.

"It's beautiful." Eyes shining, she looked at him as if he had handed her the world. "Thank you."

Krycek went tongue-tied but recovered swiftly. "Would you like to wash up and change?" he asked softly, unaware of the gentle look in his eyes. He would've been horrified if he'd seen it. It didn't go with the tough-guy image he usually projected.

"Yes." She smiled with delight at the prospect.

He led her to the bathroom. He paused outside, listening, but she didn't lock the door. Krycek walked a short distance away and began to pace, waiting.

Almost an hour later Donni was fighting back tears.

She had taken a nice long shower and towel dried her hair but water still clung to her stupid curls, dripping over everything.

Donni had tried to struggle into her pretty new dress but it was too tight. She couldn't get her arms twisted high enough behind her to zip it up the rest of the way.

Then she had decided that her panties needed to be washed out before she could wear them again. So now with her dress only half-on (one sleeve persisted in sliding off her shoulder) she was bent over the sink, trying to wring her panties out dry enough to put them on.

Donni was almost in tears. Everything was going wrong and she was taking forever. Alex needed her to work on the tape.

Krycek had finally lost patience and stood listening at the door. He hadn't heard any noises for some time and began to worry. He tried to remember if he'd left anything in there that could be used as a weapon but his mind was blank. He couldn't remember.

Stupid, he thought. He should have checked it out before he let her go in.

Krycek stood at the door, indecisive. "Donni?"

There was no answer, only a low, muffled sound that could have been anything.

Not the most patient of men, Krycek had finally had enough. He reached for the doorknob and thrust the door open.

Donni heard the doorknob turn and was mortified that he might find her holding her still damp panties. She wadded them into a tight ball and hid them in a fist behind her back. But with the movement her sleeve slipped off her shoulder *again*. She clutched at the dress.

Krycek stood in the doorway, stunned and trying to take a breath. He had begun to think of her almost as a child, but that concept was forcible dispelled as she stood in front of him bathed in the early morning sunlight streaming into the room.

The dress is too small, he thought numbly. This fact was brought home hard as she stood clutching the dress to her, the thin material clinging faithfully to every sweeping curve. Her curls fell in a wet, wild cascade around her shoulders, dripping water and making the dress cling wetly in odd places. The top of the dress was loose and, even as she clutched it to her, couldn't totally conceal the ripe flesh beneath.

She was definitely not a child. She took a quick breath and Krycek watched, fascinated, as her more than generously endowed chest rose and fell.

Tearing his eyes away, Krycek dragged his gaze away from her body to her face. Her open face was easy to read. There was embarrassment which he understood, but there was also guilt, which he didn't understand. She felt guilty about taking so long but he didn't know that. His mind started to race.

Krycek saw she was clutching her hand behind her, out of sight, and his finely-honed paranoia kicked in. Maybe she had found a weapon after all. He took a step forward. "What's behind your back?"

"Nothing," she answered promptly then looked guilty. It was because she lied and lying was wrong.

"Show me," he ordered, his face hard. She had a good act. He had almost fallen for it, but he was onto her now.

"No," she squeaked, then her eyes went wide with dismay as she realized she as good as told him she *was* holding something. She took a step back.

Krycek lunged forward, grabbing for her hand.

"No," she squeaked and turned, putting her hand as far away from him as she could. Face to chest with him, she stared up at him, her eyes wide with dismay.

Krycek sidestepped, reaching a long arm around her and grabbing her wrist. Gripping tightly, angry that he had been so stupid, he twisted her fist around in front of her face.

"So, what's this?" He was furious with himself and her. "Nothing?"

Donni looked at him helplessly, not knowing what to say.

His other hand wrapped over her fist and slowly forced it open, to reveal... her wet panties.

He froze, staring.

She shifted awkwardly, embarrassed. "They're wet," she explained haltingly. "I washed them. I was waiting for them to dry." She eyed him anxiously, afraid he was mad because she had lied. Trent always got mad when she lied.

Krycek was having problems of his own. The soft, smooth material draped over his hands like a caress. White with pink flowers, he thought numbly. They were white with pink flowers. He blinked and raised his eyes to stare at her.

Donni squirmed with guilt. She shouldn't have lied. Trent says lying is bad.

Her damp dress slipped down a little more. The dress was high-backed with short tight sleeves and a square-cut bustline. It was only half zipped up the back so the front was loose and continually slipping down. She quickly tugged up one shoulder and then the other, loosing ground fast.

"I can't zip it up. I can't reach." She was close to tears. "Are you mad at me?" She was heart-broken at the idea.

Dazed, Krycek stared at her a moment before he realized she was almost in tears. His tight grip on her gentled and he smiled reassuringly. "No," he said softly. "I'm not mad."

She smiled and it was as if the sun broke through the clouds, lighting up her face.

Happy again, she hopped forward and hugged him tight. Krycek froze as warm wet curves were pressed against him. The protective feeling that had come over him was violently shoved aside by a more primitive, more urgent feeling. He held his half-raised arms stiffly out to the side as lust heated his blood. Disgust quickly followed.

Krycek may be a murderer and a thief but he thought he had *some* standards. She was his prisoner but more importantly she had the simple mind of a child and blindly trusted him. Self-disgust ripped through him again. He'd never thought of himself as a child-molester, but that's what it amounted to when she didn't have the facilities to understand what was going on. But her body was not the body of a child and his body obviously thought she met his standards quite nicely. But before he could either push her away or, worse, pull her even closer, she skipped back, smiling innocently, unaware of the chaotic thoughts streaming through his head.

Donni did a quick turn and propped her hands on the sink, her back to him. She peeked over her shoulder at him. "Would you zip me up?"

Krycek tried to gulp but his throat was too dry. "Sure," he mumbled. She faced forward again, waiting.

It took a minute, but he brought his hands up to her back. He stared dumbly at the panties he still clutched tightly then quickly shoved them out of sight in a pocket.

She started to fidget, impatient.

"Hold still," he muttered. Careful to touch only the dress, Krycek tried to quickly zip it up but the zipper was stuck. He had to inch it down and then back up a couple times until finally the zipper went all the way up.

The damp dress clung to her like a second skin. He could tell she was naked under the thin material. Long curving back smoothly flowed into a waist that nipped in sharply and flared out into generous hips. He swallowed hard.

"Did you get it?" She was impatient, peeking over her shoulder with stray locks of curls hanging in her eyes. She impatiently shoved the hair out of the way.

Krycek took a firm grip on himself and stepped back. "All done," he said as casually as he could.

Donni twirled around to face him, running her hands over the dress with delight.

"It's so pretty," she crooned.

Krycek dazedly watched as her movements tugged the dress down low over her breasts. He could only stand and watch, mesmerized, as her hands stroked over swelling hips and flat stomach.

No, she definitely wasn't wearing anything under that dress.

His hand came up and clutched her arm. He began to urgently tug her out the door.

"What?" she asked curiously. "What's wrong?"

He needed to get her out of his sight. Now. Before he did something he would regret. Like kiss her or touch her or... Krycek chopped off that line of thought ruthlessly and tugged her down the hall towards the cell.

"Nothing." He was calm as he marched her down the hall, none of the turmoil he was feeling showed in his face. Only the slightly tortured look in his green eyes gave a clue as to what he was going through. "Nothing's wrong."

"Why are you in such a hurry then?" She tugged on his urgent grip on her arm, confused.

"No reason," he clipped out. "I just need to use the shower now. That's all."

Her face cleared. "Okay."

Krycek unlocked the celldoor and thrust her inside.

Skinner's head came up at the sound of the key in the lock. He narrowly watched the door as it opened. His mouth dropped open when he caught sight of Donni in the tight dress.

He had known she wasn't a child, but he hadn't *known*. The skin-tight dress proved that she was most definitely a woman beyond any shadow of a doubt.

He watched, still recovering from his surprise, as she whirled around before Krycek could close the door.

"But I can get to work now," Donni protested.

"Later," he clipped out.

"But..."

"Later." Krycek closed the door.

Donni shrugged and turned around. Grown-ups were strange sometimes. You just had to get used to it.

She went over to Skinner. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," he replied, carefully noncommittal. He had discovered early on that she had the mind of a child. He didn't want to scare her so he hadn't said anything about what was really going on.

But now he remembered Krycek's flushed face and guilty expression. He decided he needed to find out what had happened. Why Krycek would make her put on such a dress. It was almost indecent.

"So," he said casually, "how are you doing?"

"I got a new dress." She was almost dancing in place. She twirled around, showing it off.

"That's nice," Skinner said. "Did Krycek tell you to put it on?"

"Krycek?" she frowned.

"Alex," he explained. "Did Alex make you put it on?"

She looked a little confused. "He gave it to me, yes." She continued on happily. "He let me take a shower."

Skinner's stomach dropped, but he reined in the reaction. It didn't mean he had... done anything to her. But he remembered Krycek's guilty expression and wondered. It took a lot to make Krycek feel guilty, he was sure.

He struggled for the right words to ask what he needed to ask without scaring her, but there was no way around it. "Did he touch you?"

Donni frowned, deep in thought a moment then, "Yes," she said brightly. "When he took my panties."

Skinner almost swallowed his tongue.

"And then he zipped up my dress," she continued, oblivious to the devastating bomb she'd just dropped. She soon lost interest in the subject, though. "He brought me sandals, too, but I don't really like to wear shoes so I didn't put them on. How about you? Do you like shoes?"

Skinner struggled to follow her words. "Uh, no, not really."

She started to chatter. "Trent is always making me put on shoes, but I don't like to so as soon as he's gone I take them off again." She giggled. "He always makes faces at me and chases me around when he finds out I took my shoes off." She giggled again. "He's funny."

Skinner let her chatter flow around him while he tried to think. He couldn't expect to get a straight answer from her. She was too innocent to understand. She didn't look or act as if she'd been abused but she could have blocked the whole incident out of her mind.

"I need to talk to Krycek," he said grimly, not realizing he had spoken out loud.

He had interrupted her chatter but she was quick to answer. "Alex said he had to take a shower," she informed him blithely. "I think it'll be awhile."

Donni chattered on but Skinner's mind was racing. Krycek needed a shower? This didn't sound good. He hadn't thought even Krycek was that much of a bastard.

Skinner silently fumed. When he got loose, he and Krycek were going to have a little talk. A potentially painful talk as far as Krycek was concerned.

Krycek was busy giving himself a firm talking to. Silently, but a talking to, nonetheless. Directed specifically to an area of his body that kept trying to rebel. After a few minutes his body cooled and seemed ready to reluctantly obey his stern commands.

He went into the computer room and started pulling his purchases out of boxes and wrappings. He worked until he had a nice stack of new equipment but no computer expert to do anything with it.

This was ridiculous. The sooner she got started, the sooner the tape would be decoded and the sooner he could move on.

He decided to go get her and let her get started.

Krycek opened the door. "Come on," he said gruffly, trying to shake off residual guilt.

She started towards him, happy to see him.

Skinner broke in loudly. "I need to use the bathroom."

Krycek had been trying to ignore him. He quickly glanced at him then away. "Suffer." He motioned for Donni to come out.

"Krycek," Skinner's voice was threatening and made Krycek look back at him. "You and I need to talk." Skinner's eyes flickered to Donni meaningfully then back to Krycek to stare at him accusingly. "Now."

Krycek almost flinched at the open accusation in Skinner's eyes but he was too good at the game to give anything away. "We've got nothing to talk about." He took Donni's arm to lead her from the room.

"I don't think you want me to talk to Donni about this." Skinner raised his eyebrows, the threat plain. He was going to find out what he wanted to know, one way or another.

Krycek's face went blank as he quickly flipped through his options. He would have to talk to him or Skinner would end up trying to drag information out of her. He didn't need her getting upset.

He might as well talk to him. Nothing happened. Nothing was *going* to happen. So why did he still feel a niggling guilt? He had nothing to be guilty about. Nothing had happened.

So why did he feel like shit?

"Okay," he said gruffly. "I'll be back."

He guided Donni from the room and led her to the computer room. She immediately darted for the pile of equipment and started to happily tear things apart.

"I'm going to talk to Skinner." Donni only nodded, not even bothering to look up. "You stay here." She nodded briefly, already engrossed in her task.

He locked her in then went back to the cell. He opened the door and stood there, eyeing Skinner. Krycek moved forward, pulled his gun out and jammed it tightly to Skinner's throat.

"Don't move." He ducked down and unlocked the cuffs. Cautiously, he stepped back, watching Skinner closely.

"Get up."

Skinner stood. "What now?"

"You said you needed to piss." He gestured towards the door. "Let's go."

Krycek waited on Skinner then motioned him back to the cell. Skinner stopped in the middle of the room and turned to face him. "We need to talk."

Krycek waited silently, gun trained on him.

"That's quite some dress you got her," Skinner commented casually, but he was eyeing him suspiciously.

Krycek felt like he was being called on the carpet by his father. He shifted restlessly and squelched the feeling. Skinner wasn't his father and he hadn't done anything wrong. He took refuge in sarcasm.

"Yeah, it sure is *quite* a dress, isn't it?" He gave him a hungry-looking grin, the gun steady.

Anger shot through Skinner. "What did you do? Did you touch her?"

Krycek was feeling guilty again. He acted cocky to hide it. "If I did?" He arched an eyebrow. "What are you going to do about it?"

"You touched her? What did you do?" Skinner was insistent and wouldn't be side-tracked. He needed to know what kind of damage he'd done. He turned grim. "Did you rape her?"

"No!" Even Krycek couldn't stay cocky in the face of such an accusation.

"Tell me," Skinner said grimly. "I need to know. Providing you do plan on letting us live, I'll need to know what kind of help she'll need. For once in your miserable life, tell the truth."

Krycek dropped the act, becoming defensive. "I didn't lay a hand on her."

"She said you took her panties and zipped up her dress." Skinner sounded like he was interrogating a prisoner and didn't believe a word he was hearing.

"I, uh,..." Krycek stumbled to a halt, suddenly acutely aware of the wet spot her panties had made in his jeans pocket.

Skinner saw the guilty expression flit over his face.

"What did you do?" The contempt was plain in Skinner's eyes.

There was no way Krycek could even try to explain it to Skinner. He would just end up sounding guilty as hell. He didn't even know why the hell he should try.

"I didn't do anything that she didn't want me to do." He curtly tried to end the probing questions.

Skinner was really not happy with that answer. He was about to question him further but Krycek had had enough.

"Now, sit down and cuff yourself," Krycek threw the cuffs at him. "Or I can just shoot you now and save myself the bullshit. Your choice."

Seeing that Krycek had reached the end of his patience, Skinner sat down and cuffed himself again. He would just have to wait for his chance.

Krycek cautiously checked the handcuffs then turned and headed for the door.

"I'll find out," Skinner's voice followed him to the door. "I'll find out if you did anything to that girl. If you did, there's not a hole on this earth deep enough to hide you, you piece of shit."

Krycek paused before shutting the door, facing him coldly. "If I were you I'd be more concerned about whether or not I was going to get out of this alive."

With that threat hanging in the air, Krycek closed and locked the door.

In a foul temper, Krycek headed for the computer room.

Donni looked up as he entered. "Look," she said, excited. "I already got past the first layer of security."

Things were looking up. Krycek hurried to her side and stared at the screen as she scrolled it down. He scowled, disappointed.

"It's just a bunch of nonsense."

Donni could see he was upset. She grabbed his hand reassuringly.

"No, it's Navajo code-talk," she said soothingly. "I just need to get on the net and download some files and I'll have it decoded in no time."

Krycek still didn't look too sure, bent over, staring at the screen.

Impulsively, she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. Trent always did that hen she was upset and it always made her feel better. "Don't worry, Alex," she consoled. "I'll fix it."

His arms went around her and he let his head drop to her shoulder. He was starting to get used to her spontaneous shows of affection. He was even starting to like them.

She planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "Cheer up. Everything's gonna be all right."

He closed his eyes and let out a long breath, enjoying the moment. But soon he was pulling away from her. She had work to do. She wasn't here to hug him every time he got a little upset, no matter how pleasant it was.

He stood up and stepped back but she stood when he did and his hands came to loosely rest at her waist. Her hands were lightly resting on his shoulders as she stared up at him with worry.

"Don't be sad, Alex." She patted his arm. "I'll fix it."

Krycek smiled affectionately. "I'm sure you will. Now," his hands dropped from her and he stepped back, "you need to get on the net?"

"I just need a telephone hookup."

Krycek gestured behind the desk. "There's one in the corner."

He helped her set up and soon she was happily jumping from page to page.

"What are you looking for?"

"Back when I first got into breaking codes, I heard about Navajo code-talk and how the enemy never broke it so for fun I learned Navajo and the code. But it's been so long, I don't remember it all."

"Besides," she said as if it only made sense, "why would the government put files into a code only a handful of old people could decode for them? They've got to have a program that can decode it for them or all those files wouldn't do them a bit of good."

Krycek stared at her, stunned by this bit of deductive reasoning. There would have to be a program of some sort. Or course. Or all those files would be useless.

She chattered on. "I could decode them bit by bit, but that would take forever." She rolled her eyes at the thought. "I just need to find that program or it I can't find it, write it and then I can decode all these files in minutes, instead of days."

After a time, she gave a sound of disgust and looked at him dismayed. "I can't find the program or I can't get to it from here." She looked woeful and he frowned.

She grabbed his hand. "Don't worry, Alex," she said earnestly, "with the information I've downloaded, I can write a program that will do it." Her face fell. "It'll just take some time."

His hand went to her shoulder. "That's okay, Donni," he said softly. "We're close, right?"

She smiled, happily. "Right."

"Okay," he said. "You just do the best you can, all right?"

"All right, Alex." She beamed at him and set to work.

He paced for a while but he didn't want to distract her so he slouched down on the couch shoved in the corner and watched her work.

Hours passed and Krycek was fighting a loosing battle with sleep. It felt like he hadn't slept in days and this waiting wasn't helping.

Quietly, he shifted position until he was stretched out on the couch. He watched her sleepily for a while more but finally his tired body won out. He dozed.

Krycek slowly swam up out of sleep. Usually there was no transition for him between sleeping and waking but for some reason he was drowsily content.

He became aware of a warm, soft weight curled against his side and distantly wondered what it could be and why he wasn't more alarmed. Usually anything out of the ordinary instantly put him on guard, but now it was as if he didn't care. As if he were safe.

Krycek frowned at that and began to struggle awake in earnest. He wasn't safe. He would never be safe.

He opened his eyes to find a mass of golden curls spread across his chest and Donni curled against his side, sleeping peacefully.

His eyes darted to the dark computer and then to the unlocked door. He had fallen asleep and left his prisoner in a room with an unlocked door? Sloppy, very sloppy.

If it had been anyone else she would've been long gone. Only Donni would curl up next to her captor and fall asleep. He shook his head in affectionate disbelief and brought a hand up to softly stroke over her curls, combing them back from her face.

He softly touched her face, marveling at the softness of her skin and how innocent she looked in sleep, her full lips caught up in a half smile. She was like a precious gift that he only got to keep for a little while. She was proof that not everyone was selfish and cold-blooded. He had forgotten that for a while, if he had ever even known it to begin with. He had never met anyone like her.

He gently caressed her face, fingers brushing softly over her cheek. Donni began to stir and he frowned. He hadn't meant to wake her. She shifted and muttered something low that he couldn't quite make out then her eyes slowly fluttered open, softly unfocused.

Donni slowly focused on his face and his breath caught at the joy that came over her, lighting up her eyes.

"Hi, Alex," she said softly.

"Hi," he answered, barely breathing, afraid to shatter the moment.

Donni snuggled back against him sleepily, her eyes closing again. Her hand fumbled across his chest but stopped when she found the hard, cold metal of his gun in the shoulder holster.

She frowned sleepily and looked at him. "John says guns are dangerous. You have to be careful around them or someone could get hurt," she warned earnestly.

"John? Who's John?"

"John's my brother," she proclaimed proudly, then continued solemnly. "He's the one that taught me how to defend myself against the bad man."

Krycek snorted mentally. Yeah, John really did a great job. She really knew how to defend herself, he thought with more than a little disgust.

But if he had bothered to think about it he would have realized that he himself had been prepared to hurt her to get what he wanted. He was a ruthless, selfish, cold-blooded bastard and now here he was, cradling her protectively and melting every time she smiled at him. Maybe she could take care of herself better than he knew.

But Krycek didn't think of that. He could only think how criminal it was to leave such an innocent creature alone for even a minute. She would get gobbled up by the first hungry wolf that came along. He found himself starting to worry about her and frowned.

"What's wrong, Alex?" She shifted to lay across his chest and propped herself up to get a better look at his face. She frowned prettily.

His hands slid down to her waist. "Nothing, honey," he said softly. "Nothing's wrong."

Donni looked at him doubtfully and he smiled reassuringly. "Lay down, Donni." He urged her against his chest. "Go back to sleep."

Trustingly, she relaxed against him, closing her eyes. Sleepily, she shifted and her arms came up and curled around his neck. She pulled herself up and placed a soft kiss against the side of his mouth. "G' night, Alex," she mumbled sweetly then she was asleep, her face nestled against the side of his throat.

Krycek held his breath until he was sure she had settled into a deep sleep.

He was wide awake now and his hand came up to tangle in her hair, the soft curls twining around his fingers. He let his other hand stroke down her back. Her dress had hitched up and he carefully tried to tug it back down over long, smooth thighs. But it had bunched up under her body and the dress didn't tug down nearly far enough for decency.

The sudden, stunning image of her standing in the bathroom, clutching her wet dress to her while her glorious hair tumbled down around her shoulders and she stared at him out of wide brown eyes, flashed through his head. His breath quickened with the memory. It didn't help that at the same time she shifted against him in her sleep, making him acutely aware of her soft curves.

Donni snuggled against him and the sudden, shocking memory went through him that she was naked under the thin material of that dress.

Krycek was not the most virtuous of men. He was used to taking what he wanted, when he wanted it. So the battle he waged now was an unfamiliar one. But he struggled with himself nonetheless because he couldn't stand the thought that he might hurt her or scare her. She was so sweet. He didn't want to scare her. He fought with his body for long minutes until finally it seemed to get the message.

When he had himself under control again, he gently shook her.

"Donni?" he called softly. "Donni, wake up."

She shifted then snuggled into his throat, muttering a low protest. She didn't want to get up. She liked it here.

Hoping she wouldn't understand what the hardness in his jeans pressing against her meant, he shook her again, urgently. He needed to get her out of his arms. Now.

"Donni," he said sternly. "Get up."

Her eyes opened quickly at his firm tone. "What, Alex?" Her face was soft with sleep. "What's wrong?"

He forced a smile for her benefit, even as she shifted against him intimately. She propped herself up to stare down at him, her legs going to either side of his hips, her face hovering inches from his, examining him curiously.

He bit back a gasp and gripped her waist firmly to still her movements. "Be still," he ordered harshly, fighting a battle he had thought he'd already won. She was so sweet.

Her face crumpled with hurt. "Did I do something wrong, Alex?" she asked piteously.

His grip gentled. "No, honey," he reassured. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's just time to get up."

She frowned, confused. "But you said to be still."

"I... oh, hell." Krycek swore as he gave in and tugged her lips to his. He pressed his lips to hers softly, afraid he would scare her but desperately wanting to taste her. She gave a soft sound of surprise and her lips parted. Krycek dipped his tongue inside and slowly explored. Hesitantly, wanting to please him, she returned the caress.

His hand slid up to delicately cup her skull while his other hand slowly stroked over her waist, stealing around to her back. She gave a small sound of pleasure that almost undid him. She was totally uninhibited as she settled against him and began to shift restlessly.

She may have the mind of a child but she had the body of a woman and she felt itchy and restless as his slow kiss continued. She shifted her hips over his and that felt good, so she started to rub against him, helplessly twisting in the grip of new sensations.

Her movements abruptly upped the stakes and he broke off the kiss, closing his eyes tight, straining for control. She continued to squirm against him, trying to reach his lips as he held her off.

Desperate, his arms went around her and he rolled her under his body until she was staring up at him, dazed. Her arms tried to come up around him but he captured her hands and gently held them next to her face, his body lifted above hers, carefully not touching.

She frowned, dazed. "Alex?" she asked tremulously, not understanding, yearning for something but not knowing what. "Alex, I hurt," she said mournfully.

"Hurt?" Alarm went through him. "Where do you hurt?"

She tugged a hand free and it came to rest low on her belly. "Here," she whispered, confused. "It aches."

He closed his eyes tightly and shuddered at this sweetly innocent announcement. "Oh, Jesus," he swore. But it sounded more like a prayer.

Krycek opened tormented eyes. Unable to stop himself, his hand came to rest lightly on top of hers.

"Here?" he asked hoarsely, his hand pressed softly over hers where it rested low on her belly.

She looked uncertain. Her hand flexed and shifted restlessly under his.

"No, I..." she trailed off, uncertain.

He gently pushed her hand lower. Her eyes went wide and she held her breath.

"Here?" he asked, quietly insistent. She shifted restlessly.

"No," she barely whispered.

His hand crept lower, only touching her hand, but pressing her hand to her body with a knowing touch. Their hands rested low but not quite to the sensitive flesh between her legs.

"Here?" he asked again.

Donni frowned at him. "No," she said. "Lower."

He had to smile at her petulant tone, even as a shaft of hot desire went through him at her words. His hand closed over hers and stilled its restless movement.

"What should we do about that?" he asked softly, affectionate teasing in his voice.

She shifted restlessly, drawing up her right knee, her thigh stroking against the outside of his. She squirmed and shifted her hips.

"I... I don't know." She sounded irritated and puzzled.

"Well, I know what *I* need to do," Krycek said with wry, self-depreciating humor.

He heaved himself up and pulled her up too until they were both sitting up, her legs stretched out on the couch behind him while he sat up on the edge of the couch beside her.

"What do you need to do?"

"I need to take a cold shower," he stated firmly.

"Why?" She was confused. Didn't he already take a shower?

He lightly brushed curls back from her face and smiled affectionately. "Because it's hot in here. Don't you think it's hot in here?"

Donni was still confused but she had to agree with him there. "Yeah, I'm hot."

A wicked gleam entered his eyes. "You certainly are."

"What...?" she started, only to be interrupted as he pulled her to her feet.

"Come on. Show me what you've done."

Distracted by the new topic, her favorite topic, she started for the computer.

Only to be interrupted again as the door was flung open and two men with guns stormed into the room. Krycek made a move for his gun but abruptly aborted the move. They had him cold.

A tall man with a thin, ascetic face that was fixed in a perpetual sneer strolled in after them. "So nice to see you once again, Alexander."

The newcomer nodded and one of the men stepped forward and relieved Krycek of his gun.

"Sorry I can't say the same," Krycek answered bitingly.

Donni clutched at Krycek's arm. She hid behind him and peeked around his arm fearfully. "Alex, what's going on?"

Before Krycek could answer, the thin man nodded. "Bring them," he ordered and preceded down the hall towards Skinner's cell.

The key was found and the door quickly unlocked. Krycek and Donni were shoved into the cell with Skinner.

"Stay here," the thin man ordered one of the men, a short, beefy goon with a flattened face, black hair and black eyes. "We'll search the house for our missing property."

The goon nodded and moved to stand in the doorway. The other two men left. The goon watched the hallway but at the same time kept a careful eye on his prisoners.

"What's going on, Krycek?" Skinner demanded. "Friends of yours?"

Krycek never looked away from the goon. "You could say that." Donni continued to fearfully cling to his arm.

After a moment, Krycek became aware that the man's eyes kept coming back to Donni. While the goon's face showed no change of expression, Krycek didn't like the way his eyes kept moving over her body.

Krycek gently disengaged his arm from her grip, lightly flexing his hands. He needed to be able to move quickly.

Another tense minute passed, then after another quick glance down the hall the goon closed the door.

He dug out a pair of handcuffs and threw them at Krycek. "Cuff yourself."

Krycek caught the cuffs but made no move to put them on.

"Do it," the goon ordered. The gun's aim was centered on his forehead. "Or I can kill you right now."

He was too far away. It was suicide to make any kind of move on him. Slowly Krycek fastened the cuffs around a pipe and then around his left wrist.

Satisfied, the goon let the gun dip down to point at the floor and brought his attention to Donni. He licked his lips.

"And what's your name, sweety?"

"Madonna," she answered uncertainly.

"Madonna." His eyes gleamed. "That's a nice name." He holstered his gun. "Come here."

"I... uh... " She slid back a step and stared at Krycek questioningly.

The goon surged forward, grabbed her wrist and jerked her to him.

"When I tell you to do something," he snarled in her face, "you do it."

Donni looked scared but she swallowed and started in a trembling voice, "But I don't..."

Her words were abruptly cut off as his arm whipped up and around and smacked her across the face. The blow swung her around and knocked her to the floor.

Skinner and Krycek watched in horror. Donni landed sprawled out on the floor, facing them, her cheek pressed to the floor, eyes closed. She didn't move for a long moment and they both feared the worst. Blood trickled from her lip.

"Bitch!" the goon was ranting. "You'll do what I say when I say it or you'll regret it!"

Skinner and Krycek anxiously watched Donni for signs of life. Forever after they would have a vivid recollection of everything that happened next. Still afraid she might be dead they watched her closely and could only stare in shocked surprise when her eyes popped open.

All the innocent happiness was gone from her eyes and in its place was cold rage. A cold rage so deep and abiding that the men watching instinctively recoiled at the first sight of it. Her face was completely transformed. The little-girl innocence and trust was gone, wiped away by the feral fury lighting her eyes.

Little Donni was gone, but Madonna was here.

And she wasn't happy.

Slowly, with no expression on her face, her lips parted and her tongue slipped out to deliberately wipe up the thin trickle of blood.

The goon had stopped ranting by now. He moved forward and prodded her with a toe. "You awake? Get up!"

When he prodded her, Madonna opened her mouth and a pitiful sounding whimper trickled out. But there was no change of expression on her face, no lessening of the pure rage in her eyes.

Both men felt a chill race down their spines as they watched the eerie effect of one emotion coming out of her mouth but a totally different emotion reflected in her eyes and face.

"Please," she whimpered from out of a blank face with killer-cold eyes. "Don't hurt me."

The goon gripped her arm and started to lift her and the blank, cold expression smoothly flowed into the contorted features of a terrified little girl.

He lifted her and shoved her against the wall, looming over her threateningly.

"Please," she whimpered. "Let me go."

"Just do what I say, little girl." He leaned in and smashed his lips against hers.

Madonna struggled briefly, helplessly, then gave up and he gave a grunt of satisfaction. He relaxed his guard and she brought her knee up hard. He folded over and her hands moved in a blur. A sharp crack echoed around the room as she snapped his neck. He dropped limply to the floor.

Hands on hips, Madonna disdainfully glared down at the dead body. "Please don't hurt me," she mocked in a high falsetto voice. She kicked him.

"Hah!" she snorted.

She stooped down, pulled his gun out and checked it expertly before glancing over at Krycek and Skinner.

Madonna gestured casually with the gun. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

Before they had a chance to ask her where she thought they would go, she had opened the door and slipped away down the hall.

A moment passed then two gunshots rang out, closely followed by two more.

A moment later she was back. Tiny splatters of blood now decorated her new dress.

"Hi," she greeted them cheerfully. She dug through the dead goon's pockets and found the key to the handcuffs. She threw it to Krycek.

Krycek quickly unfastened the cuffs and stepped towards Madonna only to find the gun now pointing at him. She motioned to the door with her free hand, the gun rock-steady on the center of his chest.

"Let's go." She stared at him coldly.

Krycek stared at her incredulously a moment then obeyed and started through the door.

"Donni," Skinner called. "What's going on?!"

She paused. "Donni's not here anymore. I'm Madonna." She smiled a cold predator's smile then brought her attention back to Krycek. She eyed him like he was dinner. "Let's go."

She paced behind Krycek with the gun held steady.

He looked at her uncertainly a couple of times, but she continued to watch him with cold emotionless eyes. He suddenly wasn't sure he was going to get out of this alive.

Madonna indicated the computer room and Krycek led the way. She motioned him to stand aside and moved to the desk. Still watching him closely, her free hand fumbled across the top of the desk. She came up holding his original tape and a computer disk. She held them out to him.

"Here," she offered.

Hesitantly, he moved forward and took the disks. "What's this?"

"The government secrets you wanted decoded."

He stared at her in surprise.

"Oh, please." She rolled her eyes. "Who did you think you were fooling?"

He was speechless.

"Personally," she continued. "I'll just as soon destroy the tapes and kill you, but Donni likes you. Lucky for you, I have a soft spot for her. After all, she *is* the reason why I'm here."

She arched an eyebrow. Krycek got a weird, dizzy feeling at seeing that cynical expression on Donni's innocent features.

She moved in on him, stalking closer. He instinctively backed away until he was up against the wall and desperately clutching the disks. The gun dug into his stomach and he stared at her wildly, trying to figure out where this hellcat had come from. He squirmed uneasily as she traced her free hand up his chest.

"What's the matter? Don't you like me?" She grinned wolfishly. "Maybe you don't like me as much as you like Donni?"

She threaded her hand in his hair, gripped tightly and jerked his face down to hers.

"Maybe you should just give me a chance," she purred then covered his mouth with hers.

Krycek gave a low, choked-off protest then after a small hesitation was kissing her back.

He was dizzy from lack of oxygen and other, less definable causes, when she jerked his head away and stepped back. The gun was still aimed at his stomach.

She smirked at him. "Maybe you *do* like me." She pretended to yawn. "But I'm bored now. I think you should get out of here before I decide to shoot you just for the fun of it."

Krycek took two shaky steps towards the door but paused. "How...? Should I...?"

"Don't worry," Madonna said casually. "I'll find you if I want to." She gave him a wicked grin. "I hope you like surprises."

Krycek didn't like the sound of that but figured he'd pushed his luck as far as it would go. He headed for the door.

After she heard him go out the front door, Madonna sighed and lowered the gun. Time to get Skinner loose and call the police or whoever. She didn't get a lot of chances to come out and play and this had been some fun. She sighed again. She liked Krycek. Maybe she'd get a chance to look him up again. She smiled at the prospect. That idea had some possibilities.

That idea had some *real* possibilities.

She grinned.